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WATER COMMUNICATION 


BETWEEN 


THE MISSISSIPPI AND THE LAKES. 


MEMORIAL 

TO 




THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES 


ON THE 

IMPROVEMENT OF THE NAVIGATION 

OP THE 


FOX AND WISCONSIN RIVERS, ^ 

7 c 

SUBMITTED BY 

THE CANAL CONVENTION HELD AT PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, IN THE 
STATE OF WISCONSIN, NOVEMBER 10, 1868, 

AND 

THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONYENTION. 


PREPARED FOR PUBLICATION UNDER THE DIRECTION OP 

LIJCIIJS FAIRCHILD, 

GOVERNOR OP THE STATE OP WISCONSIN. 



MADISON, WIS.: 

ATWOOD & RUBLEE, BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS, JOURNAL BLOCK. 

1869 . 











t ' 




TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


• 

Page. 

MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 5 

Nature and condition of work of improvement. 5 

Its practicability in comparison with the New York canals. 7 

Its practicability in comparison with other river improvements. 10 

Reports of General Warren—The cost. 12 

Saving. 13 

Business which is already developed. 15 

Business to be developed. 24 

To whom will the savings go. k . 28 

The work is national in character. 29 

The work should be undertaken at once. 31 

APPENDIX. 33 

Origin of the River Improvement Convention. 35 

Call for the Convention. 37 

Proceedings of the Convention. 38 

Official report of the Convention. 40 

Organization. 40 

Appointment of officers, &c. 40 

Speech of General Atwood. 40 

Letter from A. Penfield. 42 

Speech of Governor Merrill, of Iowa, President of the Convention. 43 

Resolutions. 45 

Telegrams. 45 

Letter from Hon. M. L. Martin. 46 

Resolutions by Hon. Hiram Barney and Hon. George Hyer. 46 

Extract from report of Gen. Warren to Gen. Humphrey, in October, 1868... 47 

Letter from the Governor of Minnesota. 49 

Governor of Hlinois. 50 

Hon. Roscoe Conkling. 50 

Hon. John Y. L. Pruyn. 52 

Extracts from letter of Edwin F. Johnson, Chief Engineer of the Northern 

Pacific Railroad Company. 54 

Letter from the Dubuque Delegation. 53 

Resolutions from the Dubuque Delegation. 54 


* 














































WATER COMMUNICATION' 

BETWEEN THE MISSISSIPPI AND THE LAKES. 


MEMORIAL 


PRAIRIE DU CHIEN CANAL CONVENTION TO THE CONGRESS OF 
THE UNITED STATES, 


THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE NAVIGATION OF THE 
WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS. 


To the Honorable , the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States in Congress assembled: 

The convention which met at Prairie du Chien November 
10, 1868, at the call of the Governors of the States of Wis¬ 
consin, Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri, “for the purpose of 
maturing measures to impress upon Congress the necessity of 
making immediate and sufficient appropriations to secure the 
improvement of the navigation of the Fox and Wisconsin 
Rivers,” most respectfully represents as follows: 

NATURE AND CONDITION OF THE WORK OF IMPROVEMENT 

The Wisconsin River having its rise in the northern part of 
the State of Wisconsin, runs southerly until it approaches the 
Fox River, turns abruptly south-westerly and running in that 
course one hundred and eighteen miles, empties iuto the Mis- 




6 


MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 


sissippi at Prairie du Chien. The Fox Eiver having its rise 
in the southern part of Wisconsin, runs north-westerly until 
it approaches the Wisconsin Eiver, turns abruptly north¬ 
easterly, and running in that course one hundred and sixty 
miles, empties into Lake Michigan at Green Bay. 

The course of the two rivers below the Portage, the point of 
nearest approach, is surprisingly straight and nearly upon a 
due line passing through Prairie du Chien and the Straits of 
Mackinaw. The divide, or portage, separating the Wisconsin 
Eiver waters, putting into the Gulf of Mexico, from the Fox 
Eiver waters, putting into the St. Lawrence, is a level sand 
prairie, without rock, and in width one and one half miles. 
The Wisconsin at the portage is at the summit level. It is 
about seven feet higher than the Fox at the portage, about 
two hundred feet higher than Lake Michigan at the mouth of 
the Fox, and one hundred and sixty-nine feet higher than the 
Mississippi at the mouth of the Wisconsin. 

Already a canal at the portage connects the Wisconsin and 
the Fox and a slack water communication extending from the 
portage to Green Bay, a distance of one hundred and sixty 
miles, overcomes by locks and dams the fall of two hundred 
feet, and connects the Wisconsin Eiver with Lake Michigan. 
The Fox Eiver from its mouth to Oshkosh on Lake Winne¬ 
bago has a low water channel of about four feet, and from 
Lake Winnebago to the portage of about three feet. At stages 
of high water, boats of three, four and even five feet draft, 
have passed from Lake Michigan up the Fox Eiver and down 
the Wisconsin into the Mississippi Eiver. As late in the 
season as June, boats of three hundred tons burthen have 
made the passage. In stages of low water, the Wisconsin can¬ 
not be navigated on account of the drifting sand. 

It is proposed that the General Government be urged to improve 
the navigation of the Wisconsin river from its mouth to the Por¬ 
tage, so that boats of five feet draft may pass with facility in the 
lowest stages of water. 

The works of improvement now in operation upon said 
rivers are owned by the Green Bay and Mississippi Canal Com- 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVFRS IMPROVEMENT. 7 

pany, and chiefly extend from the Portage to the mouth of 
the Fox. 

This company will make the navigation of the Fox river as 
good as the Government will make the Wisconsin, so that the 
project is narrowed down to the improvement of 118 miles of 
river navigation. 

ITS PRACTICABILITY IN COMPARISON WITH NEW YORK CANALS. 

There are twelve canals in the State of New York, of an 
aggregate length of 886 1-2 miles. These ^canals connect nat¬ 
ural channels to the extent of 886 miles, making the total 
length of navigable channels within the State 1,272 1-2 miles. 
The construction of these canals was commenced in 1817, and 
the Erie was completed in 1825. The enlargement was com¬ 
menced in 1885, and the construction account closed in 1862, 
although practically completed in 1859. 

The co^ of the twelve canals, including enlargement and 
land damages, was $65,644,848. To this add interest on loans 
and the cost of repairs and management up to 1865, inclusive, 
and the total cost to New York was $107,858,056. The 
amount of tolls received, inclusive of the year 1865, was 
$98,272,287, enough, even then , into $14,580,769, to pay off in 
full the entire cost of the canals. In a few years more the 
tolls on the New York canals can be reduced to a sum just 
sufficient to pay for repairs and management. The cost of re¬ 
pairs and management up to 1865, inclusive, was 21 2-8 per 
cent, of the gross receipts. 

Of these canals, the Erie is the only eastern and western 
through canal. The remaining eleven are lateral canals, feed¬ 
ers to the Erie and outlets for from two to four counties each. 
Two or three of these lateral canals are self-sustaining. The 
remainder only become so by crediting to them the tolls on 
freights which they bring into the Erie. Without this credit 
tolls on the lateral canals, with the exception of two or three’ 
have not more than paid, and in most cases have not paid the 
cost of repairs and management. 


8 


MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 


The receipts from tolls on the Erie Canal alone up to 1865, 
inclusive, have paid : 

1. The cost of the original Erie canal. 

2. The enlargement, including improvements and land 
damages. 

3. Interest on loans. 

4. The total cost of repairs and management up to 1865, 
inclusive. 

5. A net profit amounting to $15,622,836. 

In all the extraordinary sum of $83,629,243. 

The Improvement of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, of 
which it is proposed that the Government shall build the 
westeren end, and the Green Bay and Mississippi Canal 
Company the eastern end, as compared with the Erie Canal, 
is as follows: 

The length of the enlarged Erie Canal is 350 miles. 

The length of the improvement, Green Bay to fhe Missis¬ 
sippi is 278 miles. 

The summit level of the Erie Canal is at Buffalo, 654 feet 
above the Hudson River at Troy. 

The summit level of the Improvement is at the Portage, 
about 200 feet above Lake Michigan at Green Bay, and 169 
feet above the Mississippi at the mouth of the Wisconsin. 

The waters received into the Erie Canal at Buffalo are 
mainly wasted at Lockport. From that point eastward the 
Canal is supplied by artificial feeders. For all practical pur¬ 
poses the summit level of the canal is the long level from 
Syracuse to Utica (55 miles), a level fed by ten artificial fee¬ 
ders, built at great cost, of which the largest and most expen¬ 
sive is the Black River Canal. The supply of water is still 
insufficient, and it is proposed to build other feeders for this 
level. 

The full volume of the Wisconsin River, three-fifths as large 
as the Mississippi at St. Paul, is at the summit level of the 
Improvement. 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS IMPROVEMENT. 9 

The bottom of the Erie Canal, throughout the long level, is 
from ten to thirty feet above the level of the country through 
which it passes, and hence is an artificial bottom; liable to 
to break away and difficult .to repair, endangering, by the over¬ 
flow, life and property. At Syracuse the New York Central 
Eailway passes under the canal. At Utica the bottom of the 
canal is on a level with the second story windows of many of 
the houses on the river side of the town. The city sewers, 
street and highway drains, and the various streams and rivu¬ 
lets along this level, all pass under the canal. At Rochester 
the Genesee river, and at Schenectady, the Mohawk, pass 
under it. 

The bottom of the Wisconsin Improvement, as built and 
projected, is a natural bottom, safe, and not liable to break 
away, and passes neither over nor under any other bodies of 
water. 

On the enlarged Erie Canal there are seventy-one locks 110 
feet long by eighteen feet wida 

* Upon the Improvement on the Fox river side, there are 
built and projected about twenty-three locks, of which all but 
two are 160 feet long and thirty-five feet wide. Of the two re¬ 
ferred to, both to be enlarged, one is 140 and the other 145 
feet long. On the Wisconsin side there will be needed it is 
supposed, from ten to fifteen locks, making in all,, when com¬ 
pleted, thirty-eight locks, 160 feet Jong by thirty-five feet wide. 

The depth of the Erie Canal is nominally seven feet, but 
practically six feet 

The present depth of the eastern end of the improvement 
from Lake Winnebago to Green Bay, is about four feet. The 
proposed depth for the proposed entire improvement is five feet. 

The bottom of the Erie Canal is narrow and the locks small, 
permitting the passage of only narrow boats, which, for the 
most part, are made sharp at the bottom to avoid friction. 

The Improvement, and the locks upon the Improvement, 
will permit boats to pass which are flat-bottomed and fifty per 
cent, longer and one hundred per cent, wider than the boats 
upon the Canal. 


10 


MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 


It is estimated that the tonnage which will sink a river boat 
four inches will sink an Erie Canal boat one foot, so that for 
the purposes of commerce, a depth of four feet in the Improve¬ 
ment is equal to a depth of at least six feet in the Canal. 

The motive power on the Canal is horse-power, and on the 
Improvement steam. The movement of freights on the Canal is 
one and one-quarter miles per hour, and on the Improvement 
(when running) from five to seven. 

Both are eastern and western through routes, the one a 
continuation of the other, and later an effort will be made to 
show that the commerce demanding the Improvement to-day is 
little less in amount than the commerce seeking the Erie Canal. 

With a length less than the Canal, less than one-third of 
the lockage, abundant water on the summit level rendering ar¬ 
tificial feeders unnecessary, a natural and not an artificial bot¬ 
tom, few or no streams to cross, and about one-half the num¬ 
ber of locks, it must be apparent that the great cost of the 
Erie Canal can be no measure for the cost of the Improvement; 
a deduction fully sustained by the reports of Gen. Warren, * 
hereinafter referred to, and a work, only a part of which it is 
proposed to ask the Government to undertake. 

Six of the eleven side canals of New York cost from two to 
six millions each, and the remainder less. In length they 
vary from 38 to 124 miles each. They are fed, in part, by 
artificial feeders. The Genesee Yalley Canal has 112 locks. 
The Chemung Canal 116 locks with 1,015 feet of lockage, and 
the Black River Canal 109 locks with 1,082 feet of lockage. 
They are outlets for two or, at the most, four counties each. 

The improvement of the Wisconsin river, is about the same 
number of miles in length, has less than one-fifth of the lock¬ 
age and one-fifth of the number of locks and is the outlet for 
six States and a vast territory beyond. 

ITS PRACTICABILITY IN COMPARISON WITH OTHER RIVER 
IMPROVEMENTS. 

Compared with the improvements proposed for other rivers 
putting into the Mississippi, the proposed improvement of the 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS IMPROVEMENT. 


11 


Wisconsin, is, in the number of miles of length, and the num¬ 
ber of feet of fall not greater than the rivers having the least 
number of miles of length and the least number of feet of fall, 
and not more than half as great, as the rivers having the 
greatest number. 

An impediment, and possibly the greatest in the way of 
the improvement of rivers, is the sudden and great rise of 
water at certain seasons of the year. In the Ohio river, the 
floods rise above low water mark as high as sixty feet, and in 
the Illinois, Eock and Chippewa rivers as high as thirty feet. 
But not so in the Wisconsin. The difference between high 
and low water mark is, at the mouth, ten feet and at the 
Portage six feet. Two mountains of rock, twenty miles above 
the Portage, sittuated at each side and close against the river, 
by reducing the channel, hold back the floods. 

Major Charles E. Suter, in his report of the survey of this 
river, made January 2d, 1867, says : 

“ Twenty-three miles above Portage City the river passes through the Dalles, and is 
there very much reduced In width. The Dalles act as a dam to prevent any very great 
rise in the Lower Wisconsin. The average yearly-rise is about six feet. In the spring of 
1866, it rose nine feet, which is the greatest heighth it has attained for many years. The 
rise in the river just above the Dalles, on this occasion, was more than fifty feet." 

The shifting nature of the sand bars is the main obstacle to 
navigation. It is met with in all the rivers referred to, the 
Illinois, the Mississippi and* each of its tributaries, including 
the Wisconsin, not more in the Wisconsin than in the rest. 
It has long been claimed that the regular passage of boats 
would keep the channel clear. 

Major Suter says: 

“ In former years, when the Wisconsin was navigated by steamboats, it was found that 
the frequent passage of boats not only deepened the channel but tended to keep it per¬ 
manently in the same location. The pilots who take rafts down the river, bear testimony 
to the little stability of the bars, and the slight disturbance of the bottom, which is 
required to cut a deep channel through them.” 

It is probably true that an impression has prevailed, more 
or less, that owing to the shifting sand, the main channel of 
the river as such cannot be improved. That questson is left 
for settlement to engineers and to experience. After a care¬ 
ful survey and study of the river, extending over two years, 


12 


MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 


General Warren has reported that such an improvement of 
the channel is practicable. But while upon that question, 
many even of those acquainted with the river, may doubt, 
they cannot, nor can any one have doubt upon the other 
question of the practicability of a canal, or slack water im¬ 
provement. 

REPORTS OF GENERAL WARREN—THE COST. 

Under instructions from the Engineer Department, issued 
in July, 1866, Major General G. K. Warren took charge of 
the surveys of various rivers, including the Fox and Wiscon¬ 
sin. Under date of January, 1867, his report was made 
to the Department, and was subsequently submitted to Con¬ 
gress ; to this report reference is made. 

Estimates were made of the cost of enlarging the Improve¬ 
ment of the Fox River to a uniform low water draught of 
four feet and to one* of six feet, which were for four feet 
$ 444 , 442 , and for six feet $1,288,515.40. The surveys of the 
Wisconsin River were not then completed, and estimates of 
the cost of the Improvement were not then made. 

Under date of April, 1868, General Warren made a 
further report to the Department, which was subsequently 
submitted to Congress, and to which reference is made. He 
says: 

“ From the present state of our investigations, therefore, I am in favor of dams, jet- 
tees, revetments, etc., of brush and stone, in connection with dredging, in preference to 
a canal along the hanks, or to locks and dams in the river, though the estimates have not 
yet been completed. The question as to the kind of Improvement will mainly turn upon 
the making of six and seven ieet navigation; but with three and four feet at lowest 
stages, and boats properly constructed and with a wide passage way,.almost any amount 
of transportation can be done. 

“I have thought that from $20,000 to $30,000 per mile would secure this low water 
navigation of from three to four feet depth of water. * * An expense an¬ 

nually would afterwards be required for repairs amounting to from $20,000 to $30,000. 
* * Jf a Canal of great size is required between the Mississippi and the Lakes , 

there is no question but that of cost involved in Us construction. It is a very favorable 
feature that the Wisconsin River, at low stage, is nearly on a level with the summit of the 
. canal at Portage, and no expensive works are required to procure from the river all the 
water that might be needed for lockage thence to Winnebago Lake. As a canal route the 
.natural feeders are inexhaustible.” 

Since tbe making of this report in April, General Warren 
'has completed his estimates and has made to the Department 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS IMPROVEMENT. 


13 


under date of October last (1868), bis final and working re¬ 
port, from which report we have kindly been permitted to 
make the following extracts. He says: 

“ For improving the navigation along the Wisconsin River from Portage City to its 
mouth, I present three plans and estimates. . 

“ First Plan-All in river using wing dams and Long’s scrapers, distance 118 miles, to 
secure a depth of three feet, low water navigation, $427,749.37. Improvement to he avail¬ 
able the second year, the money all wanted the first year. Annually thereafter $30,000. 

“ Second Plan. —To secure four feet depth for navigation at low water, twenty-seven 
miles in the river, ninety miles of canal, seventy feet wide at bottom and eighty feet at 
top, twenty four miles being in wider places of old river bed, lock 160x30 feet; total lock 
lift 138 feet; sides of canal in cuts paved for use of steamboats—$3,206,790.95. In order 
to finish in third year, require $1,603,385.45 the first year, the remainder the second year, 
and $50,000 annually thereafter. 

“ Third Plan—To secure five feet navigation at low water, all to be canal, 118 miles. 
Canal seventy feet at bottom, eighty feet at top. Locks 160x35. Total lock lift 175 feet. 
Sides of canal in cuts paved to allow the use of steamboats—$4,164,270.00. In order to 
finish in third year, will require $2,082,130.00 the first year, the remainder the second year 
and $60,000 annually thereafter. 

“ I would urge the adoption of thethirdplan if means can be raised, providing, how¬ 
ever, at first for only afour foot navigation. Ihe second plan, if adopted, should be car¬ 
ried out with a view to being changed to the third if ever required. The first plan, three 
feet navigation, may have too much inconvenience for the great amount of transpor¬ 
tation destined for this route." 

It is then reduced to this, that a low water channel in the 
river of three feet depth can be had for less than $500,000; 
that a low water channel of four feet depth, partly in the river, 
but chiefly a steamboat canal, paved at the sides, wider at the 
bottom by fourteen feet than the Erie Canal, can be had for a 
little over $8,000,000, and that a like channel of five feet depth 
all canal, can be had for a little over $4,000,000. 

SAVING. 

Will enough be saved to justify the expenditure? 

It will save by reducing the freight charges upon every ton 
of coarse freight moved from the Mississippi eastward or west¬ 
ward by water or by rail. 

It is ascertained from reports and tables carefully prepared, 
by comparing the receipts and the cost of transportation of a 
large number of railroads for a period of eight years, that the 
average cost by rail is eighteen (17.90) mills per ton per mile, 
and the average receipts thirty (29.80) mills per ton per mile? 
making the cost over sixty per centum of the receipts. 


MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 


14 ’ 

It is also ascertained by comparing the receipts and the cost 
of transportation of fourteen different canals, that the average 
cost of transportation is from 4 to 6 mills per ton per mile, and 
the average receipts llj^mills per ton per mile, making the 
cost about thirty-four per centum of the receipts; it is ordi¬ 
narily stated at thirty per centum. Upon the Erie canal, the 
average up to 1866, inclusive, was 21 2-3 per centum. 

The following table shows the comparative cost and receipts 
upon railroads, canals, rivers, bays and seaborne: 

Classification. Per ton per mile, Per ion peu, mile, 

cost, mills. receipts, mills. 

Transportation by railroads. 17.90 29.80 

..do..by canals, including deduction, lockage, &c. 6.40 . 11.40 

..do..by Erie canal,....do.do. 4.05 . 

. .do..by rivers, steam towage. 2.26. 2.90 

..do..by l?ays. 2.72. 3.73 

..do., by ocean. 1.26 2.50 

From this statement it appears that the receipts and cost of 
transportation by rail are each about three times as great as by 
canal , and about eight times as great as by river. 

From the Auditor’s Eeport for 1866, it appears that the • 
tons moved per mile in New York, on the Central and Erie 
railroads for that year were 809,561,319, and on the canals 
1,012,448,034,yet the railroad receipts amounted to $20,282,943 
and the canal receipts to only $10,160,651,'making the charges 
by rail nearly three times as great as by canal. 

In the ten years, 1865 to 1864 inclusive, the total number of 
tons moved one mile by the Central railroad was 2,132,073,- 
612, by the Erie railroad 2,587,274,914, and by the New York 
canals 8,175,803,065, and the average receipts of the Central 
2 6-10 cents, the Erie 2 22-100, and the canals 91-100 cents 
per ton per mile, making the average charges by rail nearly 
three times (2 2-3) as great by canal. 

Had the freights which were carried by canal for the ten 
years referred to, been carried by rail, the additional freight 
charges would have amounted to $122,637,045.97; add to 
this that portion of canal receipts which was applied to the 
extinguishment of the canal debt—a sum which, it will be re¬ 
membered, is quite three fourths of the total receipts from tolls, 













WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS IMPROVEMENT. 15 

and which, after paying in full the cost of repairs and manage¬ 
ment is $73,184,640, and of which sum it is estimated that 
$56,000,000 was paid in the ten years referred to, and it then 
follows that, in addition to the reduction of railroad freights, 
and in addition to the appreciation of real estate at New York 
city, on the line of the canals, and at the west, the canals have, 
n the ten years referred to, saved to the public $178,637,045,97 
or $17,850,000 annually. 

It is estimated by Governor Fenton and the State Engineer 
of New York that by adapting the Erie or New York canals 
to the use of steam, the cost of transportation will be reduced 
at least fifty per centum. 

The improvement of the Wisconsin, as proposed by Gen. 
Warren, partakes of the nature of both river and canal im. 
provement. The motive power upon theErie canal is horse-power 
and upon the river steam; and the movement upon the river 
is at least four times as great as upon the canaL It is believed 
that in the matter of transportation, the proposed improve¬ 
ment approximates more nearly to an ordinary river improve¬ 
ment than to a canal. If so, it is safe to say that the cost of 
transportation and receipts will be less than one-fourth of the 
same by rail; and will be still less if the Government shall collect 
tolls only sufficient to pay the cost of repairs and management. 
* 

BUSINESS ALREADY DEVELOPED. 

Is the business of the country sufficiently developed to 
demand this outlet ? 

The statistics upon this subject most carefully compiled 
were in different reports submitted to the canal conventions 
which met at Chicago June 2, 1863, Dubuque February 14, 
1866, and at St. Louis February 12, 1867, and are enclosed in 
numerous memorials, papers and reports, which have been 
presented to and are now before Congress, to which we beg 
leave to refer. 

The commerce of thirteen States and four territories in 
greater or less degree stand in present need of this water chan¬ 
nel as its eastern outlet. 


16 


MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 


It is impracticable to present in this paper a statement of 
the nature and extent of the productions of the thirteen States 
and territories , or even of the entire productions of a single 
State. 

The States of Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin and Min¬ 
nesota, known as the five most productive of the famous eight 
“ food producing states,” are more deeply and immediately in 
need of this outlet. The following statement of the increase and 
extent o&the grain crop of these States will furnish a fair sam¬ 
ple of the increase and extent of the entire productions of each 
and all of the States and territories referred to. 


TABLE NO. 1. 

STATEMENT showing the increase and extent of the Grain Crop office of the “ food-producing ” States for the years 1849-50, 1859-60, 1865-66. 

[The figures for 1850 and 1860 were obtained from the U. S. Census, and for 1866 were obtained in part from the reports of the Commissioner of Agriculture, 
the State Census of several of the States and the estimates of officials and prominent men residing in the several States. It is thought that the estimates lor 
1866 are considerably less than the actual yield.] 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS IMPROVEMENT. 


17 


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* Estimate of Commissioner, General Land Office. +Less than the actual yield. 

















































18 


MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 


From this statement (Table No. 1) it appears that a popula¬ 
tion of little more than two millions in 1850, has increased to 
four and a half millions in 1860 and to nearly six millions in 
1865 ; that the product of wheat, eighteen million bushels in 
1850, has increased to nearly fifty-five millions in I860, and 
to eighty-five millions in 1865, and that the product of grain, 
including wheat, etc., one hundred and fifty-three million 
bushels in 1850, has increased to three hundred and thirty-two 
and a half millions in 1860, and to four hundred and thirty- 
nine and a half millions in 1865. 

It also appears that less than one-sixth part of the popula¬ 
tion of the United States has raised more than one-half of the 
wheat, about one-third of the corn, and about one-third of the 
grain, including wheat and corn, which, in the year 1865, was 
produced in all the States and Territories of the United States. 

The total value of the grain crop of the United States 
for the year referred to was, by the Commissiv>ner of Agricul¬ 
ture, estimated at $1,118,904,376, in which estimate the crop 
of the five States referred to was put down at nearly one-third 
of the whole—$391,596,000. 

The actual yield is, possibly, greater than the amount 
claimed in the statement (Table No. 1). The Governor of 
Iowa estimates the wheat crop of that State for 1867 at twenty 
million bushels, and for 1868 at twenty-five million bushels. 
The census returns made to the Secretary of State of Wis¬ 
consin indicate that the wheat crcp of Wisconsin for 1860 was 
over twenty-seven million bushels, while the Secretary of the 
State Agricultural Society estimates the crop of 1861 at 
twenty to twenty-five millions, and of 1863 at twenty-five to 
thirty million bushels. 

In the main, however, it is thought that the statement is 
substantially correct. In order to test it, the following tables 
have been prepared with reference, more especially to the 
wheat crop, designed to show, first, the quantity for export or 
shipment East, and second, the quantity actually shipped. 

It is estimated by the Mark Lane Express that in England 
the average consumption of wheat is six bushels to the inhab¬ 
itant, while in this country, where corn is substituted in part, 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS IMPROVEMENT. 


19 

it is estimated that the average is about five bushels to the 
inhabitant. 


TABLE No. 2. 

STATEMENT designed to show the amount of wheat for shipment East. 

Total yield of wheat and flour for 1865, as per Table No. 1 (bushels). 85,156,700 

Deduct seed, 1 1-2 bushels per acre. Total No. acres in wheat 

(5,854,991) as per report of Commissioner of Agriculture, 1866 8,782,486 
Deduct consumption, 5 bushels to each inhabitant. No of inhabit¬ 
ants, 5,983,047, as per Table No. 1.29,915,235 

- 38,697,721 


46,458,979 

Deduct for shipment South and West, say 15 per cent. 6,968,846 


39,490,133 


Quantity for shipment East 











TABLE No. 3. 

ST A T'EMENT designed to show the actual shipments of Grain from Lake Michigan Ports. 

(The following table in the main has been compiled from the reports of the Boards of Trade of Milwaukee and Chicago.) 


20 


MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 


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WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS IMPROVEMENT. 21 

From Table No. 2, it appears that the quanitv of wheat and 
flour for shipment EaS.tin 1866, was about 39,000,000 bushels, 
while from Table No. 3, it appears that the quantity actually 
shipped from the ports upon Lake Michigan was as follows: 


In 1862. 

Wheat and 
flour. 

. 43,505,848 bushels. 

Grain, including 
wheat and flour. 
77 767 599 bushles 

In 1863. 



In 1864. 

. 30,253,699 ...do. 


In 18C5. 

. 31,082,357 ...do. 


In 1866. 

. 38,269,216 ...do. 



It is submitted thht these tables verify subtantially the ac¬ 
curacy of the statements in Table No. 1. 

While it is true that a quantity of grain is raised upon the 
immediate shore of Lake Michigan and does not require 
transportation across the state, it is equally true that a quantity 
of the grain. crop of the five states referred to, is shipped 
to the West and South, and another quantity to the Bast by 
channels other than the ports of Lake Michigan. With water 
channels opened and freights reduced, thereby stimulating ship¬ 
ments, it is thought that the yearly crop is now and possibly as 
far back as 1866 was sufficiently large to make the shipments 
eastward from points west of Lake Michigan not less than 
50,000,000 bushels of wheat and of grain, including wheat not 
less than 100,000,000 bushels. 

This quantity in weight, estimating for the different kinds 
of grain, is about 2,500,000 tons. The average distance from 
the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan by rail is 170 miles, 
and by the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, 278 miles. To the 
distance by rail must be added the average distance to the 
head of Lake Michigan, opposite Grreen Bay estimated at 150 
miles. The charges for transportation over 170 miles of rail¬ 
way, at thirty mills per ton per mile, and over 150 miles of. 
lake at three mills per ton per mile, amount to $5 55 per ton, 
and with the cost of transshipment at the Mississippi added, 
to $6 21 per ton ; while the charges over 278 miles of river, at 
seven mills per ton per mile, amount to $L 95 per ton. The 
saving of $4 26 per ton, upon the whole quantity for shipment, 
would amount to $10,650,000—a sum more than twice the 












22 


MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 


estimated cost of the proposed work, to be saved upon the 
movement'eastward of a single grain crop. 

It may be said that this great product would not go all by 
water—be that as it may—whether moved by rail or water it 
must go at approximate water rates. The saving to the public 
is equally certain, whether effected by light tolls or light rail- 
rates. 

It is, however, by no means certain that water routes can 
not successfully compete with railways. It appears, (table No. 
3,) that from the ports of Lake Michigan, the shipments were 
nearly all to the East, and were made by water, excepting 
that in 1864 eight per cent., and in 1865 eleven per cent., and 
in 1866 eighteen and a half per cent, were made by rail. The 
following statement is designed to show w 7 hat proportion of the 
shipments by rail to the East were carried in the five winter 
months. 

TABLE NO. 4. 

STATEMENT designed to show the proportion of Shipments East by rail in 

the winter months. 


(Compiled from the Board of Trade Reports of Chicago, for the years 1865,1866 and 1867* 
Shipments by railroad from Milwaukee not given, because included in the Chicago 
Shipments.) 


RAILROADS AND YEARS. 

Shipments of wheat,flour, 
(reduced to bushels)corn 
and oats,in the 7 months 
of Apr., May, June, July, 
Aug., Sept, and Oct. 

BUSHELS. 

Shipments of wheat, flour, 
(reduced to bushels)corn 
and oats, in the 5 months 
of Nov., Dec., Jan., Feb. 
and March. 

BUSHELS. 

Propt’n of ship- 
m’tsinBw.mos. 
to tot.sh.of y’r. 

iburgh, Fort 
yne & Chica- 
Mich South- 
& N.lndiana. 
:hg’n Central, 
cago & Great 
tern. 

1864. 

. 2,002,940 . 

. 2,830,040 . 

58* 

1865. 

. 3,534,170 . 


-1864 & 1865. 

. 5,537,110“. 

. 6,133,060 

52i/ s 

1866. 


. 5,314,498 ... 


1864,’65&’66 

. 15,128,192 . 

. 11,447,558 . 

43 




From this it appears that of the shipments east by rail there 
were carried, in the five winter months of the year 1864, fifty- 
eight and a half per centum, of the years 1864 and 1865 fifty- 
two and a half per centum, and of the years 1864, 1865 and 
1866, forty-three per centum. Deducting from the shipments 
carried in the summer months the quantity discharged at points 































WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS IMPROVEMENT. 


28 


not reached by water, and it follows that during the seven 
months of navigation, while the water channel was open and 
in competition with the four great lines of railway leading 
from Chicago to the east, there was shipped by rail not much 
over five per centum of the gross shipments east. 

The opening of a water route will stimulate the export of 
corn. From tables Nos. 1 and 3 it appears that from a product 
of 273,000,000 bushels in 1865, only 25,000,000 bushels were 
exported—less than one bushel in ten. These tables show, 
says the Commissioner of Agriculture, in his report for 1865, 
p. 62, “ how excessive charges for transportation are eating 
out the substance of the West, reducing home prices and farm¬ 
er’s profits, and consigning corn to the grate or furnace. It 
should teach the West to diversify its industry, and divert 
labor from wheat growing to industries which make light pro¬ 
ducts.” 

Having spoken so freely of the grain crop, it is impractica¬ 
ble to do more than refer to the other varied and great produc¬ 
tions of the territory tributary to this route, seeking an eastern 
outlet by water. It is thought that the western freights will 
approximate to the eastern freights. The opening of this route 
will furnish a western market for the great lumber districts 
of Michigan and Eastern Wisconsin, for the coal and salt dis¬ 
tricts of the east, for Lake Superior iron and for general mer¬ 
chandise. 

The following is a statement of the lumber trade of the 
two ports of Milwaukee and Chicago: 


24 


MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 


TABLE No. 5. 

STATEMENT of receipts and shipments of Lumber, dec., at the two ports of 
v Milwaukee aud Chicago. 


Locality. 

1860. 

In the*Sear 1866. 

- m 

Total Receipts. 

Coal, tons. 

Total 

Receipts. 

Lumber, 

feet. 

Total 

receipts. 

Lumber, 

feet. 

Rcp’ts by 
by lake. 
Lumber, 
feet. 

Receipts 
by R. R. 
canal,&c. 
Lumber, 
feet. 

Ship, by 
R. R. and 
canal. 
Lumber, 
feet. 

Estimated 
product 
of lumber, 
feet. 

Milwaukee 

Chicago ... 

Totals... 

Wisconsin. 

Michigan.. 

30,124,000 

225,372,340 

*58,808,000 

730,057,168 

56,846,000 

687,851,000 

1,962,000 

42,206,168 

21,906,156 

422.087,266 


66,617 

496,193 



255,496,340 

788,865,168 

744,697,000 

44,168,168 

443,993,422 

562.810 

t800,000,000 

tl, 125,000,000 







Total.... 







1,925,000,000 









*Not estimating lath, shingles, posts, ties, holts, cord wood, &c. 

tEstimate Sec’y Wise’s State Agr’l Society Report, in press, gathered from report s 
of Boards of Trade. 

^Estimate of Commissioner General Land Office, ReporJ of 1867. 

To move by rail the quantity actually received, (788,865,- 
168, feet) allowing for each car seven thousand feet, and for each 
train fifteen cars, will require 7,513 trains of cars, or one for 
every hour, day and night, in the year, Sundays excepted; 
and to move the quantity actually shipped, (443,993,422 feet,) 
will require 4,228 trains, or about fourteen trains for every day 
in the year, Sundays excepted. 

Should the western freights amount to not more than one 
half of the eastern freights, they would swell the aggregate of 
the saving to 15,975,000 per annum. 


BUSINESS WHICH WILL BE DEVELOPED. 

However great in quantity and value the productions of 
the five. States referred to now are, under the stimulant of 
cheap transportation they will grow into quantities and values 
vast and immeasurable. However great may be the develop¬ 
ment indicated by the miles of completed railway therein, it 
has not reached nor approached its limit. 

The following statement is designed to show the number of 
miles of railway completed in these states, and the number of 
acres of improved land, as compared with the total area. 




























TABLE No. 6. * 

ST A TEMENT designed to show the number of miles of completed Railway in the five states referred to, and the number of acres of improved land 

as compared with the total area. 

[Compiled from the Reports of the Commissioner on Agriculture, the Report for 1867 of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, &c., &c. 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS IMPROVEMENT. 


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25 


Six New England States..:.’. 3,819 

Six middle States, including New York and Pennsylvania. 8,882 
































































26 


MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 


It appears from this statement that in 1850, in the States 
referred 10 there were 180 miles of completed continuous rail¬ 
way, while in 1866, only sixteen years later there were 7,641 
miles and more in process of construction. The total num¬ 
ber of miles of completed and continuous railway in th e 
United States was 8,590 in 1850 and 86,000 in 1866. These 
five newly created States contained in that year nearly as many 
miles as the six older “ Middle States,” nearly twice as many 
as the six “ New England States,” more than one-fifth as many 
as the United States, and more than one-fifth as many as all 
the rest of the world. They contained in 1866 nearly asman^r 
miles as the United States in 1850. 

It also appears that the total area of these States embraces 
more than two hundred million acres of land, a surface as 
great as that of forty states as large as Massachusetts ; and 
that the quantity actually improved is less than twenty-eight 
million acres—one acre in eight. 

The valley of the Mississippi, which by the opening of 
water routes will become connected with the valley of the St 
Lawrence, and tributary to the commerce of the lakes, con¬ 
tains 768,000,000 acres “ of the finest lands on the face of the 
globe; ” enough to make more than 150 States as large 
as Massachusetts. More territory than the areas of Great 
Britain, France, Spain, Austria, Prussia, European Turkey, 
and the Italian Peninsula combined. If peopled as Massa¬ 
chusetts is, it would contain five times the present population 
of the United States ; and as France is, it would hold as many 
people as the whole area of Europe contains; and as Belgium 
and the Netherlands are, with not the same danger of famine, 
it would contain four hundred millions of souls, largely more 
than one-third of the entire population of the world. 

With the valleys of the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence 
so connected there would be an uninterrupted lake, river and 
canal navigation from New York to Fort Benton, at the falls 
of the Missouri, a distance, east and west, of nearly five thou¬ 
sand miles. Barges loaded at Green Bay might be discharged 
of their cargoes in Montana. The distance on the Mississippi 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS IMPROVEMENT. 


27 


navigable by steamboats, from St. Louis north to the falls of 
St. Anthony, and thence on the Dacotah, is about 1,300 miles, 
and south from St. Louis to New Orleans, 1,200 miles. 
Steamers go loaded with freight to be delivered at the heads 
of navigation upon the rivers which run through Illinois, 
Ohio, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Ala¬ 
bama ; and to Pittsburg, in Pennsylvania. Steamers of a 
large class go from St. Louis to Fort Benton, a distance of 
3,100 miles. It is stated that in the spring of 1868, sixty 
boats were advertised to leave for the Rocky Mountain 
region, and that the gold dust which came by steamers in 1866, 
was estimated at $16,000,000. 

The Chief Engineer of the Northern Pacific Railway, at 
page 45 of the pamphlet issued by him, entitled, u The Navi¬ 
gation of the Lakes,” says : 

“At these points (one on the Columbia River and one at Puget Sound) transhipment to 
and from eastern Asia will take place. Upon one of them will arise a city which will have 
the same relation to the trade of the Pacific as New York now holds to the trade of the 
Atlantic. * * The Asiatic productions; * * when they reach the navigation of the 
Missouri , which approaches to within seventy miles of the divide of the mountains , will 
he put upon arks or rafts of lumber and thus he floated down and distributed at a cheap 
rate throughout the valleys of the Missouri and Mississippi. * * * Within ninety 
miles of the main divide of the mountains , on the west side, are the navigable waters of 
the Bitterroot branch of Clark river, and from this point an improvement by short canals 
and locks in some half a dozen places only, extends the navigation to the Pacific.” 

In the Land Office Report for 1867 at page 69, com¬ 
missioner Wilson says : 

“ The Columbia river is’navigable to the Cascade mountains one hundred and four¬ 
teen miles from its mouthy when navigation is interrupted by rapids for a distance of 
five miles, over which a railroad portrge is constructed. On the east side of the Cas¬ 
cades it is again navigable for forty-five miles to the Dalles—and again becoming un* 
navigable on account of rapids, another railroad fifteen miles long has been built from 
the Dalles to Cebillo. From the later point the river is navigable and daily or tri-week¬ 
ly steamers are running to Umatilla eighty five miles; Wallula one hundred and ten 
miles; and to White Bluffs one hundred and sixty miles further up the stream. The 
Oregon steam navigation Company had in 1866 eighteen or twenty first class steamboats 
on the river and warehouses at all the principal towns and had transported to the 
upper Columbia, in the four years ending in 1865, 60,320 tons of freight and carried up 
and down the river in the same time nearly 100,000 passengers. By constructing a por¬ 
tage from White Bluff's one hundred and fifty miles north and cutting off an impassable 
angle in the river, the stream is again struck at a navigable point close to the forty 
ninth parallel from which steamers can run from one hundred and fifiy to two hundred 
miles further north to near the fifty third parallel, in the Cariboo country, the famous 
gold region of Brittish Columbia. The Oregon Steam Navigation Company expected 
to have steamers running upon these upper waters in 1867. 


28 


MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 


About the year 1820, long before the Erie Canal was pro¬ 
jected, Governeur Morris, who, with Jesse Hawley, shares the 
honor of its conception, writing to a friend in Europe said: 

*• Hundreds of large ships will, in no distant period, hound on the billows of these in¬ 
land seas. Shall I lead your astonishment up to the verge of incredulity ? Know, then, 
that one-tenth part of the expense home hy Britain in the late campaign, would enable 
ships to sail from London through the Hudson river into Lake Erie.” 

Nearly two thousand ships now “ bound on the billo^fce of 
these inland seas,” and upon the Mississippi and its tributaries 
quite two thousand more. Dare any man now fix the limit at 
which the extension of the water route then conceived, and the 
development of this great country, shall stop? A water com¬ 
munication extending, from New York, over one-half of the 
length—and possibly the entire length—of the Pacific railroad 
will furnish the only reliable check against extortionate freights. 

TO WHOM WILL THE SAYING GO ? 

The saving by cheap transportation does not benefit the 
producer more than the consumer. It probably benefits, 
in an equal degree, both. It is an object for the pro¬ 
ducer to move his grain to market at the least possi¬ 
ble cost, in order that he may there compete with other 
sellers; and an object for the consumer to promote com¬ 
petition. The Eastern States have an interest in the reduc¬ 
tion of freights, as great and controlling as the Western 
States. The entire wheat crop of New York is consumed 
in three months, and the entire wheat crqp of the New Eng¬ 
land States in six weeks. It is not optional with the Eastern 
States to buy ; they must have the grain which the Western 
States export. The West does not successfully compete with 
the East in manufactures, and the East does not successfully 
compete with the West in agriculture. An open way is need¬ 
ed for the passage of the productions of each locality. 

The tide of emigration sets from east to west, and the tide 
of commerce flows from west to east. The duties on imports? 
enriching the East and the entire country, result, in great part, 
from the exports of the West. The appreciation of real estate 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS IMPROVEMENT. 29 

will not be confined to localities contiguous to the proposed 
work, but will affect tbe vast territory of the west, whose pro¬ 
ductions are to be enhanced in value, and of the East, where 
the productions of the west are to be marketed. The port of 
New York is what it is because it is the market of this country. It 
is enabled to transport freights to the markets of the world at a cost 
less than any other port on the continent] because it can provide 
freight for vessels incoming as well as outgoing, while the sea¬ 
going vessels from the other parts of the country have, in the 
main, to return in ballast, and from the profits of the out-going 
trip to pay its own and the expenses of the incoming trip. 

It is said by Sir Morton Peto, “that if the entire cost of the 
railroads between the Atlantic and Western States had been 
levied on the farmers of the central west, they could have paid 
it and been immensely the gainers.” 

THE WORK IS NATIONAL IN CHARACTER. 

The work is not one for the State of Wisconsin. It cannot 
be undertaken without a change in the organic law of the 
State. If completed it would benefit other States equally, or 
more than the State of Wisconsin. Unaided by the legisla¬ 
tion of Congress, the State has not the legal right to under¬ 
take the woik, nor the power to delegate the right to individ¬ 
uals. The grant to the Fox and Wisconsin Improvement 
Company was in aid of an act of Congress. By the ordinance 
of 1787, the navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and 
the St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, 
were declared to be public highways, forever free to the in¬ 
habitants of every State. The control over them was re¬ 
tained by the General Government, and was substantially ex¬ 
cluded from the States to be thereafter formed out of the ter¬ 
ritory northwest of the Ohio. A similar provision was 
embodied in the law of Congress organizing the Territory of 
Wisconsin, and in the law of Congress admitting the State of 
Wisconsin into the Union. Not only by virtue of special 
legislation, but from the character itself of the Fox and Wis¬ 
consin Rivers, they fall within the class of waters over which 


30 


MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 


the General Government has retained control, and to improve 
which it has long been its policy to make appropriations. 

A work which affects the interests of every locality, which 
reaches out and touches many States, and binds together all 
by the ligaments of commerce, and develops avenues of inter¬ 
course into bonds of unity, can be no less national in charac¬ 
ter than that which guards against outward foes. 

As a war measure, also, it is national in character. Its im¬ 
portance in this respect has been presented in a memorial of 
the Legislature of Wisconsin to Congress, from which we 
make the following extract: 

“ Great Britain occupies the northern portion of the continent, with a territory co-ter- 
minous with our own, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. She has constructed a 
series of short canals around the rapids of the St. Lawrence, with locks forty-five feet wide 
and two hundred feet long, and eight feet deep, and has connected Lakes Erie and Ontario 
by the Welland Canal, with locks twenty-six feet wide, one hundred and fifty feet long 
and eleven feet deep, and capable of ready enlargement. She has constructed the Rideau 
Canal, professedly as a military work, by an interior route, between Montreal and Kings- 
ston, with locks thirty-three feet wide and one hundred and forty-two feet long; and al¬ 
though the channel is only five and a half feet deep, yet it is capable of passing a danger¬ 
ous vessel, when buoyed up by lighters. She has a formidable fortress and depot of mili¬ 
tary and naval stores at Kingston, on Lake Ontario, another at Malden, at the mouth of 
the Detroit river, and a third at Penetanguishene, on Georgian Bay; besides forts more or 
less impregnable at Toronto, Niagara, Port Stanley, Windsor and Port Sarnia. Most of 
these points are intersected by railways, by which a large force can be rapidly concen¬ 
trated. 

“ To oppose these formidable preparations, we have a few dismantled forts, which a 
half hour’s cannonading with improved ordinance would batter down, and which from 
thoir weakness would invite rather than deter attack; no lines of water communication 
by which a war vessel, larger than a canal boat can be thrown into the lakes; no naval or 
military depots; nothing but a single steamer of one hundred tons burden, mounting a 
single eighteen-pounder for aggressive or defensive purposes; nor can the number, under 
the treaty stipulations of 1817, be increased beyond one more on the upper Lakes, one on 
Lake Ontario and one on Lake Champlain. It may be a startling fact, but it is neverthe¬ 
less true, that a single battery planted on the Virginia side of the Ohio river, below Pitts¬ 
burgh, and a single gunboat anchored near the south shore of Lake Erie, have the power 
to sever the great arteries of communication between the East aud the West. 

“The committee on Canals of the Senate of New York, and the committee on Naval 
Affairs of the Senate of the United States, having this project before them, have unani¬ 
mously reported in its favor—the former by its report, made on or about the 10th of April, 
1862, and the latter by its report, made on or about the 3d of March, 1863.” 

The famous Ericsson has said: 

“ That an impregnable war vessel of 25 feet width and 200 feet long, with a shot-proof 
turret, carrying a gun of 15-inch calibre, with a ball of 450 pounds and capable of destroy¬ 
ing any hostile vessel that can be put on the Lakes, will draw, without ammunition, coal 
or stores, but 6 feet 6 inches of water, and consequently will need only a canal wide and 
deep enough to float a vessel of those dimensions, with locks of sufficient size to pass 
it,” &c 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS IMPROVEMENT. 31 

# 

Hence, it will require but a small enlargement of the Im¬ 
provement, as now proposed, to admit of the passage of iron¬ 
clad vessels of war. With the Improvement perfected to the 
necessary dimensions, and the Erie Canal correspondingly en¬ 
larged, a vessel could be passed by an internal route from 
Hew Orleans to Chicago, Buffalo, Hew York, Trenton, Phila¬ 
delphia, Baltimore, Annapolis, Washington, Horfolk, Rich- 
mond, Hewbern and Beaufort, making a distance of 4,300 
miles, besides rendering accessible the whole navigable system 
of the Mississippi and the lakes. 

THE WORK SHOULD BE UNDERTAKEN AT ONCE. 

In the memorials to Congress of the Legislatures of Iowa and 
Wisconsin it is suggested “ that this work should be undertaken 
at this time, because the public debt is great. Its accomplish¬ 
ment will increase the wealth of the country, out of which the 
debt is to be paid and will enlarge the incomes of consumer 
and producer by whom it is to be paid. At any cost its early 
accomplishment is dictated by true economy.” “ Whatever ” 
says the Secretary of the Treasury in instructions to the 
special agent of the department, “ tends to develop the vast 
resources of our new States and Territories, must add to the 
wealth of the whole country.” 

It is the prayer of your memorialists that it may soon be 
said of this work as it was of the Erie Canal: “The great 
work has advanced to completion , giving to the world a practica¬ 
ble example of the proverb there is that that scattereth yet in- 
creaseth .” 

In behalf of the Convention, 

B. J. STEVENS, of Wisconsin, 

W. I. GILCHRIST, of Iowa, 

WM. J. LA. DUC, of Minnesota, 

Committee. 

SAMUEL MERRILL, 

President. 

Horace Rublee, George Hyer, R. Tompkins, 

Secretaries. 










































































































































































































4 

> 




I 


\ 




* 



f* 

I 

APPENDIX. 


3 



















ORIGIN 


OF THE 

RIVERS IMPROVEMENT CONVENTION. 


PROCEEDINGS OF THE FOX AND WISCONSIN 
IMPROVEMENT CONVENTION. 

Pursuant to notice a preliminary Improvement Convention 
was held at the Seymour House, in Oshkosh, on Friday fore 
noon, composed of delegates and citizens representing many of 
the towns along the line of the proposed improvement. 

On motion of Mayor Davis, of Oshkosh, Mayor A. Klaus, 
of Green Bay, was called to the chair, and Geo. Hyer appointed 
Secret ar 

The objects of the meeting having been stated by the chair, 
on motion, the following named gentlemen were appointed a 
committee to prepare business for the consideration of the 
meeting: B. J. Stevens, C. W. Davis and D. M. Whitney. 

A recess was then taken, and on reassembling the business 
committee reported as follows : 

CALL FOR IMPROVEMENT CONVENTION. 

By the committees appointed by the Common Councils of certain cities on the line of 
the Fox and Wisconsin River Improvement, assembled at Oshkosh on the 25th day of 
Septemher, 1868, with the powers expressed in the resolutions of appointment: 

Beit Resolved, That a convention of the people of the Northwest be called to assem¬ 
ble at the city of Prairie du Chien on the 10th day of November, A. D. 1868, for the pur¬ 
pose of maturing measures to impress upon Congress the necessity of making immediate 
and sufficient appropriations, to secure the improvement of the navigation of the Fox and 
Wisconsin Rivers. 

That the convention be restricted in its labors to measures which shall tend to the im¬ 
provement of the rivers above named. 

That the cities, villages and counties of the Northwest, Boards of Trade, and other 
business associations, throughout the country, be invited to send to the convention two 
delegates each. 



86 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS 


That this resolution he subscribed by the members of this convention. 

That the Governor of this State he requested to issue a call, reciting this resolution, and 
inviting to the convention the people of the State, of the Northwest, and of the country ’ 
and that he he requested to invite the Governors of the States of Minnesota, Iowa, Mis¬ 
souri, Illinois, and other States to unite with him in this call. 

JOHN LAWLER, Prairie du Chien. 

O. B. THOMAS, Prairie du Chien. 

DOUGLAS LEFFINGWELL, McGregor 

REUBEN NOBLE, McGregor. 

C. R. GALLETT, Portage City. * 

W. W. CORNING, Portage City. 

C. W. DAVIS, Oshkosh. 

GEORGE HYER, Oshkosh. 

* JAMES GILLMORE, Appleton. 

EDWARD WEST, Appleton. 

ANTON KLAUS, Green Bay. 

DANIEL M. WHITNEY, Green Bay. 

And the committee present the following resolutions for the consideration of the 
meeting • 

Resolved , That Messrs. Hyer, Whitney and Gallett he appointed a committee, whose 
business it shall he to prepare a memorial for the consideration of the State Legislature, 
and an address embodying statistics and information concerning the improvement pro¬ 
ject under consideration, which memorial and address shall he submitted to the Prairie du 
Chien Convention, on the 10th of November, for consideration. 

Resolved , That Messrs. Lawler, Leffingwell and Corning he appointed a committee on 
correspondence, whose duty it shall be to communicate with the municipal authorities, 
and with commercial and business organizations of towns and cities more directly inter¬ 
ested in and favorable to the objects of this convention, asking co-operation in the pur¬ 
poses, and attendance at the convention to he held at Prairie du Chien, on the 10th day of 
November. 

Resolved , That the committee appointed to prepare a call, and consisting of two from 
each city, he appointed a finance committee and requested to raise at least the sum of 
three hundred dollars, being fifty dollars from each city aforesaid, and that Mayor Davis 
he, and he is hereby, appointed the treasurer. 

Resolved, That the committee of arrangements appointed at the meeting in Prairie du 
Chien on the 28th day of August, 1868, he requested to act as the committee of arrange, 
ments. 

The several resolutions were unanimously adopted. 

The meeting then, after arranging some minor details for the 
convention at Prairie du Chien, adjourned. 

A. KLAUS, Chairman . 


George Hyer, Secretary. 


IMPROVEMENT CONVENTION. 


37 


CALL FOR WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS IM¬ 
PROVEMENT CONVENTION. 

STATE OF WISCONSIN, 

Executive Department, 
Madison, October 2, 1868. 

Whereas, 1 have received a certificate of tbe adoption of a resolution, which resolu¬ 
tion is in the words and figures following, to-wit: 

“ By the committees appointed by the Common Councils of certain cities on the line of 
the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers Improvement, assembled at Oshkosh, on the 25th day of 
September, 1868, with the powers expressed in the resolutions of appointment. 

“ Be It resolved , That, a convention of the people of the Northwest, be called to assem¬ 
ble at the city of Prairie duChien, on the 10th day of November, A. X>., 1868, for the pur¬ 
pose of maturing measures to impress upon Congress the necessity of making immediate 
and sufficient appropriations, to secure the improvement of the navigation of the Fox and 
Wisconsin rivers.” 

That the convention be restricted in its labors to measures which shall tend to the 
improvement of the rivers above named.” 

“ That the cities, villages and counties of the Northwest, Boards of Trade and other 
business associations, throughout the country, be invited to send to the Convention two 
delegates each.” 

“ That this resolution be suscribed by the members of this Convention.” 

“ That the Governor of this State be requested to issue a call, reciting this resolution, 
and inviting to the Convention, the people of the State, of the Northwest, and of the 
country ; and that he be requested to invite the Governors of the States of Minnesota, 
Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and other States to unite with him in this call.” 

John Lawler, Prairie du Chien. 

O. B. Thomas, Prairie du Chien. 
Douglas Leffingwell, McGregor. 
Reuben Noble, McGregor, 

C. R. Gallett, Portage City, 

W. W. Corning, Portage City, 

C. W. Davis, Oshkosh, 

George Hyer, Oshkosh, 

James Gilmore, Appleton, 

Edward West, Appleton, 

Anton Klaus, Green Bay, 

Daniel M. Whitney, Green Bay. 

Now, therefore, I, Lucius Fairchild, Governor of the State of Wisconsin, together with 
the Governors of other States, uniting in this call, and whose signatures are subscribed 
hereto, do hereby give notice, that at the city of Prairie du Chien, on the 10th day of No¬ 
vember. A. D., 1868, a Convention will be held for the purposes expressed in the forego¬ 
ing resolution. 

We, the Governors aforesaid, most earnestly recommend, that the cities, villages and 
counties of the Northwest, Boards of Trade and other business associations throughout 
the country, be represented in the Convention. The importance of connecting the 
waters of the Mississippi river and Lake Michigan, by improved navigable channels, can¬ 
not be over-estimated. 


38 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS 


To the people of the Northwest and the entire country, the project as a military meas¬ 
ure is of the greatest importance ; and, as a commercial measure, an immediate necessity. 
A consultation of representative men cannot fail to advance it. 

LUCIUS FAIRCHILD, 

Governor of Wisconsin. 
WILLIAM R. MARSHALL, 

1 Governor of Minnesota. 

SAMUEL MERRILL, 

Governor of Iowa. 

THOMAS C. FLETCHER, 

Governor of Missouri. 


PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONVENTION. 

Prairie du Chien, Nov. 10, 1868. 

The convention to adopt measures to secure an appropria¬ 
tion by Congress for the improvement of the Fox and Wiscon¬ 
sin Rivers, so as to open a navigable channel for steam or other 
vessels connecting the great lakes with the Mississippi and its 
affluents, met at the Court House, in this place, at 10 1-2 
o’clock to-day. It assembled in pursuance of the call issued 
some weeks since, signed by the Governors of Wisconsin, 
Iowa, Missouri and Minnesota. Delegations, representing Wis¬ 
consin, were present from Green Bay, Appleton, Oshkosh, Me- 
nasha, Berlin, Montello, Portage, Madison, Sauk City, Bosco. 
bel, and other points; There were also numerous delegates 
present from Iowa and Minnesota. A large number of dele¬ 
gates from Dubuque and Southern Iowa, including Hon. Wm. 
B. Allison, Member of Congress, and other prominent citizens, 
were delayed on their way to the Convention, by an accident 
to the steamer on board of which they had embarked, so as to 
prevent their arrival in time- to participate in the proceedings 
of the Convention. In all, from two to three hundred persons 
were present, including many leading men of the Northwest. 
Among them, were Gov. Fairchild, of Wisconsin, Gov. Merrill, 
of Iowa, Hon. Philetus Sawyer and Hon. B. F. Hopkins, 
Members of Congress from this State, Gen. Le Due, of Minne¬ 
sota, President of the Hastings and St Cloud Railroad Com- 



IMPROVEMENT CONVENTION. 


39 


pany, a number of members elect of the Iowa Legislature, 
Hon. Hiram Barney, of Hew York city, and Colonel Heed- 
ham, of Boston, a member of the Massachusetts Senate. In 
addition to the prominent^ gentlemen from this State, holding 
official positions, present at the Convention, were State Treas¬ 
urer Smith, Senator Hazelton, of Grant, Senator Ketcham, of 
Richland, Hon. Geo. B. Smith, Hon. Levi B. Yilas, and Prof. 
J. W. Hoyt, of Dane, Hon. C. C. Kuntz, of Sauk, and Judge 
Mills, of Grant 

There was some discussion upon the resolutions, in which 
Messrs. Lawler, of Prairie du Chien, Heedham, of Massachu¬ 
setts, Hoyt, George B. Smith, Hopkins and Stevens, of Madi¬ 
son, Governor Fairchild, and Mr. Hiram Barney, of Hew 
York, took part. Mr. Lawler urged a vigorous pushing of the 
subject upon the attention of Congress. Col. Heedham said 
the great Horthwest would not ask in vain for this improve¬ 
ment if the same spirit was diffused among the people that pre¬ 
vailed in the Convention. Mr. George B. Smith favored the 
opening of a canal fed by the Wisconsin River as the wisest 
plan. Governor Fairchild spoke of the favorable spirit 
already shown by Congress towards the enterprise. Mr. 
Barney, in his remarks, paid a high compliment to the zeal 
and efficiency of the Wisconsin and Iowa delegations in Con¬ 
gress, and named Senator Howe and Mr. Sawyer, of this State, 
and Mr. Allison, of Iowa, especially, for their efforts in behalf 
of the work. Mr. Hopkins reminded the Convention that, 
first of all, it was necessary to satisfy Congress of the practica¬ 
bility of opening a navigable channel. That it was requisite 
that some arrangement should be made with the Fox River 
Improvement Company. The General Government would not 
be likely to appropriate sums to open a line of navigation, one 
part of which was private property. These obstacles and 
doubts once removed, and £he General Government would no 
doubt act promptly and munificently. Mr. Stevens said thus 
far Congress had granted every proper request that had been 
made by the friends of the Improvement, and that the private 


40 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS 


corporation referred to was ready to relinquish its property 
upon equitable terTns. 

The Convention was in all respects a very successful and 
interesting one, fully demonstrating the great interest felt in 
the improvement by the people of the Northwest, and the con¬ 
fidence entertained in its practicability. 

A very full and elaborate report was read during the after¬ 
noon by Hon. George Hyer from a committee appointed at a 
meeting of the friends of the Improvement held in Oshkosh 
last summer. It set forth in detail the present condition of the 
improvement, the character of the work proposed to be done 
in order to complete it, and the advantages that would accrue 
from it to the country at large both East and West, giving 
numerous statistics bearing upon the subject. 

The following is the 

OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE CONVENTION. 

Prairie du Chien, Nov. 10th, 1868. 

Gen. John Lawler called the convention to order, and Gen. 
David Atwood, of Madison, was chosen chairman of the tem¬ 
porary organization, and 0. B. Thomas, Esq., was chosen 
temporary secretary. 

Gen. Atwood, on taking the chair, returned his sincere 
thanks for the unexpected and undeserved honor of being 
called upon to preside, temporarily over this large and intelli¬ 
gent convention. It had met for a very important purpose; 
to consider and adopt the best method to secure the advance¬ 
ment of the improvement of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, 
so as to make them navigable at all seasons. This would be 
work of vast importance, not only to the people of Wisconsin^ 
but to those of our sister States, bordering on the west and 
northwest. Whatever has for its object the increase of facili¬ 
ties for transportation, and shall tend to the cheapening of 
freights, should receive the attention and aid of every true 
friend of the West. All improvements calculated to benefit 
the people of the great West should ever receive his cordial and 


IMPROVEMENT CONVENTION. 41 

% 

earnest support. Without detaining the convention with fur¬ 
ther remarks—again thanking the members for the honor con¬ 
ferred upon him—he would await its pleasure. 

On motion a committee on permanent organization was ap¬ 
pointed by the Chair, as follows: 

Gov. Fairchild, of Wisconsin ; 

Gen. LaDuc, of Minnesota: 

W. I. Gilchrist, Esq., of McGregor, Iowa ; 

Mr. Wilcox, of Buchanan Co., Iowa; 

Henry S. Baird, of Green Bay, Wis. 

On motion, a committee of three on credentials, was ap¬ 
pointed, as follows: 

% Hon. George Hyer, of Wisconsin ; 

Hon. H. Tucker, Iowa; 

Hon. L. B. Vilas, Wisconsin. 

The committee on credentials reported the names of 113 
delegates, from the States of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, 
Missouri, New York and Massachusetts. 

The committee on permanent organization reported the fol¬ 
lowing persons as permanent officers of this Convention: 

President—G ov. Samuel Merrill, of Des Moines, Iowa. 

Vice-Presidents— Hon. W. D. Allison, Dubuque, Iowa; Hon. B. B. Richards, Dubuque, 
Iowa; Col. L. A. Thomas, Dubuque, Iowa; Hon. B. F. Hopkins, Madison, Wis.; Hon. P. 
Sawyer, Oshkosh, Wis,; Gen. John Lawler, Prairie du Chien, Wis.; Hon. W. C. E. Thom¬ 
as, Green Bay, Wis.; Major Willis Drummond, McGregor, Iowa; Gen. Wm. G. LaDuc, 
Hastings, Minn.; J. C. Burbank, Esq., St. Paul, Minn.; Hon. M. S. Wilkinson, Mankato, 
Minn.; Gen. L. F. Hubbard, Red Wing, Minn. 

Secretaries —Horace Rublee, Esq., Madison, Wis.; Hon. George Hyer, Oshkosh, Wis.; 
R. Tomkins, Esq., McGregor, Iowa. 

On motion, the following committee on Resolutions and Me¬ 
morials was appointed by the chair: 

Gov. Lucius Fairchild, of Wisconsin; 

Hon. H. S. Baird, of Wisconsin; 

Horace Rublee, of Wisconsin; 

Hon. M. S. Wilkinson, of Minnesota; 

- Gen. W. G. La Due, of Minnesota; 

Hon. Hiram Barney, of New York city ; 

Hon. Daniel Needham, of Boston, Mass.; 

Hon. W. I. Gilchrist, of Iowa; 

Hon. Douglas Leffingwell, of Iowa. 

The chair presented to the Convention and caused to be read 


42 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS 


a communication from A. Penfield, Esq., of the Treasury De¬ 
partment, Washington, D. C., together with documents in rela¬ 
tion to the improvement of the Wisconsin River, which was 
referred. The following is a copy thereof: 

Treasury Department, 

Washington, November G, 1868. 

To the President of the Convention on the Improvement of the Fox and Wisconsin Riv¬ 
ers, to assemble at Prairie du Chien on the 1 (Mh of November: 

Sir I have observed a call for a convention of the Northwestern States, to assemble 
at Prairie du Chien on the 10th inst., on the subject of the further improvement of the 
Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. 

I take the liberty of stating that in the canal writings of my uncle, the late Jesse 
Hawley, then of Canandaigua, he suggests the improvement of the Fox and Wisconsin 
Rivers from Green Ray to the Mississippi. The primary object of these writings was the 
project of the Erie Canal. The articles were published from time to time in the Canan¬ 
daigua newspaper. De Witt Clinton (See Dr. Hoosack's Life of Clinton) states that the 
first intimation he saw of the Erie Canal in print was these essays of Mr. Hawley. Hon. 
Wm. H. Seward, in his treatise, historical and statistical, of the State of New York, pub¬ 
lished in 1853, states the same thing as to priority of these essays on the subject of the 
Erie Canal. These essays were republished by Dr. Hoosack, in the appendix to the 11 Life 
of Clinton,” occupying forty pages of that folio volume. After the subject of the Erie 
Canal was treated, other canals, in the conclusion, were pointed out, among them the 
present Illinois and Michigan Canal—a canal and locks at the outlet of Lake Superior; 
while of the Fox and Wisconsin route, he has the following words, page 330: “ The im¬ 

provement of the Fox and Ouisconsing Rivers, with a canal to connect them at or near 
their portage, supplied by the most elevated stream, would open a communication 
between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River, 1,150 miles from its mouth.” 

In the spring of 1864 I petitioned Congress for the making of reservoirs of lakes on and 
near the head of the Mississippi river, by damming their outlets, and so provide a suf¬ 
ficient supply of water to afford a medium stage for navigation through the summer, in 
the Mississippi, as low down as the Missouri or Ohio. In the Senate, the petition was 
referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in the House to that on Roads and Canals. 
Nothing further has been done in Congress. I called the attention of the Topographical 
Bureau to the subject, giving them a printed copy of my petition; also the attention of 
the Secretary of War, Mr. Stanton, requesting a survey for a short distance, for the pur¬ 
pose of utilising Leech Lake in such a system. The communication I addressed to him 
he referred to Gen Humphrey, the head of the Bureau, to learn whether the act of Con¬ 
gress for the survey of the upper Mississippi would extend so tar, and whether the appro¬ 
priation would cover such service. 

The stage of water in the Mississippi at various points is now telegraphed or published 
by the daily press. Of what incalculable value in navigation and business pursuits would 
it be to know in all the regions that the depth of water on the bars below St. Anthony 
was never less than four or five feet deep, and above that point of still greater depth. In 
my petition to Congress, I averred that those Lakes, used as reservoirs for the Mississippi, 
would be more valuable than the gold mines of California. I may remark, such a con¬ 
stant stage of water in the Mississippi would benefit the whole region sloping from the 
Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi river, and to the freight business of all railroads 
running from those Mountains to the river. 

Such a constant stage in the Mississippi, furnished by the supply from the Reservoir 
Lakes, would be of like inestimable value to the business of the Fox and Wisconsin route, 
approximating, as it would, in freight tonnage of agricultural products to that of the Erie 


IMPROVEMENT CONVENTION. 


43 


canal. Prom the report of the Auditor of- the Canal Department it appears that the Erie 
canal, down to 1866, had paid the cost of original construction and “ enlargement,” ex¬ 
penses and interest, and had, over and above, a credit of $41,500,000 in the forty years after 
its completion; the “canal debt” of the State being for lateral canals. What the Erie 
canal was in connecting the great lakes with the Hudson, the Fox and Wisconsin Improve¬ 
ment would be in connecting the great lakes with the Mississippi. 

In one of my letters to Engineer General Warren, I spoke of retaining, north of Por¬ 
tage city, a part of the redundant waters of the Wisconsin to supply in summer the lower 
Wisconsin, and as one source of supply to the Mississippi below the Palls of St. Anthony, 
as the river below the Falls is so much wider than above, (where it would be full banks), 
to give the proposed depth, four feet above low water, as the constant depth through the 
sumrnor. 

■ General Warren had mentioned that the mill owners at St. Anthony were considering 
the subject of increased supply of water against the summer drouths. I mentioned iu one 
of my letters to him, the reserVoiring, by a company at Lowell, of Lake Winnepiseogee 
in New Hampshire, a sheet of water 87 square miles, nearly 60,000 acres, by a dam of ten 
feet at its outlet. This affords in summer two or three times the water in Winnepiseogee 
river, on which are mills, before its junction with the Merrimac, that it did before the 
dam was made—and a gentleman in the Treasury, whose famity reside <Jn the Winnepise- 
gee river, near its confluence with the Merrimac, told me that a paper mill near his house, 
on the former river, in the great drouth of 1866, which prevented most of the paper mills 
in New England from running, was kept running constantly, and made $600 a day. The 
water from the Winnepiseogee reservoir gives increased power, especially in summer, to 
all the manufacturing towns on the Merrimac. 

The plan of reservoirs for the supply of the Mississippi would not only be of the most 
signal service to the business of the Fox and Wisconsin route, but incidentally to the mill 
interest, when severe summer drouths are felt. At St. Anthony, alone, the quantity of 
reserve water passing would not be less than 1,500,000 cubic feet per minute, equal to one 
twenty-eighth of that going over Niagara Falls. 

I enclose a printed copy of my petition to Congress, 

Your obedient servant. 

A. PENFIELD. 

A communication was also read from Edwin F. Johnson, 
Esq., Chief Engineer of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and 
referred, whereupon the Convention adjourned until 2 1-2 
o’clock p. m. 


2 1-2 O’CLOCK P. M. • 

Gov. Merrill, of Iowa, on taking the chair as President, ad¬ 
dressed the Convention as follows: 

4 

Gentlemen or the Convention The importance of the subject which has called us 
together cannot be over-estimated. It is a subject affecting not the interests of an indi¬ 
vidual, of a corporation, of a city, or of a single State even; but is one of such magni¬ 
tude that five or six States have assembled here in the persons of their representatives to 
consider and discuss it. I know not how others may feel, but speaking the convictions 
of my own judgment end reflecting, I believe the sentiments of the people I have the 




44 


WISCONSIN* AND FOX RIVERS 


honor in part to represent, I declare it my belief that our growth and prosperity will her 
largely affected by the success or defeat of the measure now before us. We are essen¬ 
tially an agricultural people. Providence has located us on the fairest soil on God’s greex* 
earth, and has given us a climate which looks kindly upon the labors of the husbandman. 
Our resources are in the field&and in the strong arms of an industrious, persevering peo 
pie. Yet in this paradise of the farmer, blessed as it is with every advantage for the 
accumulation of wealth, the conviction is general that the laborer, the producer, does not 
receive the full reward of his labor. Ample evidence of this may be found by an exami¬ 
nation of the market quotations in every eastern paper, and a comparison of the prices of 
cereals here and there. The great demand of the Northwest is for cheaper freights. The 
cost of transportation has always been, and still is, far out of proportion to the cost of 
production. To a people like ours, whose wealth is derived from the sale of heavy ex¬ 
ports, from the sale of their wheat, and corn, and rye, and barley, from their beef, and 
pork, and stock, this is a severe check upon their prosperity. The State of Iowa, alone, 
according to moderate estimates, has produced more than twenty-five millions bushels of 
wheat the present season. Of this quantity it is safe to say that nearly three-fourths may 
be exported, may be exchanged for manufactured articles of utility and taste, or exchanged 
for money to become accumulated capital in the hands of the producer. The same may 
be said of com,' of which we have produced (by estimate) more than seventy million 
bushels, nearly half of which might become an article of export, under circumstances 
rendering it remunerative. Remember these are products Avith but a mere fraction of 
our soil under cultivation, and that they are increasing rapidly as each year brings fresh 
accessions of emigrants seeking homes within our borders. But even now, in the infancy 
of our productions, millions of dollars could be annually saved by the opening of a line 
of water communication with the Atlantic seaboard, and the establishment of water rates 
of transportation. Millions of dollars could be saved every year to Iowa alone, and placed 
in the pockets of the people whose hard toil entitles them to the fullest fruits of their 
industry. And the advantages of such a measure are not confined to the West alone. 
East and West would share in them alike. It would make good markets for our heavy 
products, invite immigration and give new life to the whole Northwest. It would make 
labor profitable here, and food cheap in the East. It would enhance the value of our 
lands and their machinery. To both sections it would invite and retain labor for those 
channels for which nature has peculiarly fitted them, by enabling them to command the 
productions of the other at prices within their reach. 

There is another advantage in the proposed improvement, -which is worthy of consider¬ 
ation. The opening of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers makes an uninterrupted line of 
water communication with the East. It marries the Mississippi and the Atlantic. It 
strengthens, by the creation of new ties of interest, the bonds of amity and good-will be¬ 
tween the East and the West. 

Now, what we wish is to increase the returns of labor, to place greater values in the 
hands of the husbandman, to open and develop the rich domain God has given us. We 
owe it to ourselves, and to those who are to come after us, to remove every obstacle that 
obstructs the path of progress. Recognizing, as we must, the great advantages which 
must flow from the proposed improvement, our duty is plainly to consider, only the 
most feasible plan for the accomplishment of the work and then bend our united energies 
to the task. What either State might fail to effect single handed, may well be underta¬ 
ken by the common strength of the many. Accordingly I have great confidence that a 
movement will inaugurated here to-day which will eventuate in the fulfilment of the ob¬ 
ject we have in view. 

Mr. George Hyer submitted a report from the Committee 
on Statistics, appointed at a meeting held in Oshkosh some 
months since. 


IMPROVEMENT CONVENTION. 


45 


Governor Fairchild, from the Committee on Resolutions, 
submitted the following, which was unanimously adopted: 

Whereas, Major General G. K. Warren, the engineer in charge, reports that a naviga¬ 
ble water channel of any depth, connecting the Mississippi and Lake Michigan by way of 
the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, can be provided at a moderate cost; now, therefore, be it 

Resolved , That the immediate opening of said channel is demanded by the interests of 
the people of the entire country; that the work is one of national importance, required 
as a channel of commerce, as a ligament to bind together the States, ensuring national 
unity, and as a measure of defense in case of war. 

Resolved , That the Senators and Representaties in Congress from the several States be 
requested to urge upon the General Government a recognition of the improvement of the 
Wisconsin River as a national work; and that they be further requested to ask for and 
urge the Government to undertake and perfect such improvement, at an early day, in 
such manner and by such means as Congress may direct. 

Resolved , That Messrs. B. J. Stevens, of Wisconsin; W. I. Gilchrist, of Iowa, and Gen. 
Wm. G. La Due, of Minnesota be a committee of this convention to prepare a memorial 
to Congress setting forth the material facts embraced in the report on statistics presented 
this convention, and that the same be presented by the convention (signed by the officers 
thereof) to the President of the United States, the heads of the departments, and the 
members of the two houses of Congress. 

Resolved , That the Governors of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska and 
Wisconsin be and they are hereby requested to unite in forwarding copies of the memo¬ 
rial so prepared to the Governors of the several States of the Union, asking that the same 
be iaid before their respective Legislatures, and they be requested to concur in the me¬ 
morial and adopt such practical measures as they shall deem proper to effect the objects 
desired, and to take early and favorable action thereon. 

Resolved. That under the direction of the Governor of Wisconsin the proceedings of 
this convention, together with the memorial to be presented, and such letters, reports, 
papers and documents as shall be deemed important, shall be published in pamphlet 
form, and that copies thereof be sent to the President of the United States, the heads of 
the departments, and to members of both houses of Congress. 

Resolved , That the President of the Convention be instructed and authorized, if in 
his judgment it shall be expedient, to appoint a committee to visit Washington during 
the session of Congress to urge before the committee of Congress the subject matter of 
the memorial to be prepared. 

The following dispatches were received and read: 

Dubuque, Iowa, Nov. 10,1868. 

To the President of the Canal Convention : 

The late arrival of the boat prevents our attendance. Our hearts are with you, and we 
earnestly hope for the speedy construction of the ship canal. It is of National import¬ 
ance, and should receive the cordial support of the people. 

J. K. GRAVES, 

For Dubuque Delegation. 

Omaha, Nov. 10,1868.' 

Breese J. Stevens, Vice-President of Green Bay and 31ississippi Canal Convention : 

Duties on the special Pacific Railroad Commission detain me here. 

G. K. WARREN, 

Brevet Major General. 


J, Lawler ; 

The delegates 
night. 


Milton, Nov. 10,1868. 

from Fort Howard are unexpectedly detained, but will be on hand to- 

A. E. ELMORE. 


46 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS 


The following letter was read and ordered to be published in 
the proceedings of the Convention : 

_ Greek Bay, Nov. 9,1868. 

Gov. Fairchild : 

I>ear Sir —Presuming that you would be present at the Convention, called for the 10th 
inst., to forward the improvement of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, I beg to send you my 
congratulations, that something is about to be done in the right direction. J orty years 
ago, I was present at a public meeting held in this County, to memorialize Congress upon 
this subject, and never since have my efforts, influence or means been wanting, in endeav¬ 
ors to accomplish this great work. It is the only feasible channel of water communica¬ 
tion between the Lakes and the Mississippi, and the immense water lines connected with 
it, give it National importance. I regret, exceedingly, that other engagements prevent 
my attendance on the Convention in person, as I shall be in spirit, and you may feel as¬ 
sured that the objects to be accomplished have the hearty approval of a vast majority of 
your constituents and especially of one who has spent a lifetime in endeavors to advance 
them. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

MORGAN L. MARTIN. 

Air. Hiram Barney, of Hew York, offered the following 
resolution, which was adopted: 

Itesolved, That in the opinion of this convention that plan of improvement recom¬ 
mended by General Warren, which contemplates the greatest facilities for navigation and 
commerce, should be adopted by Congress. 

Air. George Hyer offered a resolution, which was adopted, 
as follows: 

liesolvecl. That this organization be so continued, that its officers shall be constituted 
an Executive Committee, authorized to call meetings, and direct measures, calculated to 
promote the objects and purposes expressed in the proceedings of this Convention. 

Resolutions of thanks to the officers of the Convention for 
the manner in which they had performed their duties, and the 
Railroad Companies for the courtesy of free return tickets to 
the delegates, were adopted. 

The Convention then adjourned sine die . 

SAA1UEL AIERRILL, 

President. 

Horace Rublee, ) 

George Hyer, v Secretaries. 

R. Tompkins, ) 


IMPROVEMENT CONVENTION. 


47 


EXTRACT FROM GEN. WARREN’S FINAL REPORT. 

Made io the Chief of Engineers , General Humphreys, in October 1868. 

In response to the joint resolution of Congress, approved July 27th, 1868, requiring u a 
full statement of the facts tending to show to what extent the general commerce of the 
country will he promoted by the several works of improvement,” &c., I venture to sub¬ 
mit the following general considerations in relation to the subject. In my estimates and 
examinations 1 have kept in view mainly the moving of the wheat crop, but it is safe to 
say that in no case is the benefit of improved navigation, as herein shown, more than 
one-third of what would result from transportation of all kinds of productions, combined. 
The region of the Upper Mississippi is pre-eminently adapted to the production of wheat, 
and the low price at which land can now be purchased, and the ease with which it can be 
tilled, make wheat growing one of the most profitable of pursuits. The present year, 
upon farms well conducted and situated conveniently to water transportation, wheat has 
averaged about twenty bushels per acre, and sold for about one dollar and a half per 
bushel, realizing thirty dollars to the acre, and at a cost of production of about ten dol ‘ 
lars, leaving a clear profit of twenty dollars per acre. A farm of two thousand acres 
would, at this rate, make a clear profit of forty thousand dollars. This would be sufficient 
to take up another equally large piece of land, break it, stock it and fence it, and show a 
profit of one hundred per centum on the original investment. Under such a stimulus as 
this, it is easy to see how rapid must be the expansion of the area of land cultivated for 
producing wheat. 

It is estimated that there are now two millions of acres of land under cultivation in 
Minnesota, and that of wheat alone there is this year a product of twenty millions of 
bushels. It is estimated, also, that this is only about five per cent, of the capacity of 
Minnesota, when it shall all come under cultivation. If so, the future crop may reach 
four hundred millions of bushels in this State alone, and amounting in weight to twelve 
millions of tons. Of this amount at least two-thirds would not be needed by the popula¬ 
tion of the State, so that there would be eight million tons of this article alone for trans. 
portation. At the present time, it is estimated, that in the States of Wisconsin, Illinois 
and Iowa together, and within the limits of the Mississippi valley, tributary to the water 
lines of transportation, whose improvement I have under my charge, (viz: the Mississippi 
and tributaries above the Rock Island rapids), there are seventy millions of bushels of 
wheat for transportation eastward, one-half of which would, were the navigation of the 
Fox and Wisconsin rivers as good now as it is susceptible of being made, pass over that 
route in preference to any- other. That is, about thirty-five millions of bushels or in 
weight about one million and fifty thousand tons. The present cost of transporting 
wheat from the Mississippi river to Lake Michigan by railroad is about five dollars per 
ton, making the cost of moving half of the crop from the Mississippi to the Lakes, not 
including river transportation, five millions and two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 

It is believed that the railroad transportation would be profitable at three dollars and 
thirty cents per ton. I have made my calculation by allowing two cents per ton per mile, 
and averaging the lengths of the following roads: Fulton and Chicago, 136 miles: Savan¬ 
nah and Racine, 142 miles ; Dunleith und Chicago, 189 miles; Prairie du Chien and Mil¬ 
waukee, 194 miles ; La Crosse and Milwaukee, 195, miles ; Hudson to Bayfield, 150 miles ; 
St. Paul and Superior, 150 miles. The competition of an independent canal and river 
line would then bring the railroads down to at least the price last named, and make the 
cost of moving the half crop of this year, three million six hundred and seventy-five thou¬ 
sand dollars, thus effecting a saving to the producer and consumer of one million seven 
hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars. If the “ Red Line,” as it is called, from Chi¬ 
cago to New York, should effect an extension to the Mississippi and carry freight at the 


48 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS 


rate it now does, which 'is about 1 7-10 cents per ton per mile, it would not reduce the 
price at Minnesota, for connection can only be made by way of Chicago, and the 
increase of difference' would make, at even these low rates, a higher average cost 
of reaching the Lake from the Mississippi, than we have taken above. And even at those 
points on the Mississippi, like Rock Island, Savannah and Dunleith, all the benefits to be 
derived from transportation from Lake Michigan East would be lost save the given one 
above. Freights would have to go on this line at the same rates all the way to the sea 
board. 

We believe it is safe to say that a good line 'of water transportation from the 
Mississippi to Green Bay can be so built as to profitably transport at one half cent 
per ton per mile. The line would be two hundred and eighty miles long, and this would 
make the cost of the entire distance one dollar and forty cents per ton, a saving of one 
dollar and ninety cents per ton upon the cheapest railroad transportation and on the 
present wheat crop would save, upon what the railroads now charge three dollars and 
sixty cents per ton, or in the aggregate three million seven hundred and eighty thousand 
dollars, or allowing railroads to carry as cheaply as it is possible for them to do, the canal 
would save annually one million nine hundred and ninety-five thousand dollars. It must 
be kept in view that in these last figures we have supposed one-half of the crop to go by 
railroad—and down the Mississippi below the Rapids. Nor have we taken into consider¬ 
ation the benefits of the transportation from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi river, 
which will be quite as great in addition. Nor have we more than stated the future pro¬ 
duction of the single State of Minnesota. It is probable that the development will be so 
rapid that all the present and probable railroads, as well as tha canals and rivers, will be 
wanted as fast as they can be built. 

The stimulus to a full development of the agricultural resources of the country, which 
a return of one hundred per cent, per annum gives, cannot, of course, be felt in any but 
favored localities for present transportation. But when transportation is deficient, it is 
felt mainly in keeping back the prices of land, so that the profits on investments at points 
where the wheat on the ground brings one dollar per bushel now, is not greatly behind 
those where the price is one dollar and a half. The present profits of the crop to the 
farmer, paying all that he does in the way of transportation, a.ie very great, so that by in¬ 
creasing the production by every stimulus of easy culture and cheap transportation to 
market, will increase the quantity raised so as to lower the prices at the places of con¬ 
sumption, at least one third what it is now [sold for in the east, and thus be a benefit of 
many millions of dollars annually to the consumers in the Eastern States. Perhaps the 
foregoingis enough to secure the full and thorough consideration of the plans and esti¬ 
mates I have submitted for improving the Wisconsin River. 

A further extract from this report, giving the plans for the 
work and estimates of the cost, is embodied in the memorial 
at p. 13 of this pamphlet. 


IMPROVEMENT CONVENTION. 


49 


LETTER FROM THE GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA. 

State of Minnesota, 

Executive Department, 

Saint Paul, Nov. 9, 1868. 
John Lawler, Esq., Prairie du Ghien : 

Dear Sir :— I had fully intended to be present at the con¬ 
vention called to meet at Prairie du Chien to-morrow, “ to 
mature measures to impress upon Congress the necessity of 
making appropriations for the improvement of the Wisconsin and 
Fox Rivers,”to connect the navigation ot the Mississippi with that 
of the Great Lakes. I greatly regret that unexpected duties 
will prevent my attending the convention. If I had known 
this sooner, I would have prepared with more care and fullness 
an expression of my views of the importance of the work 
proposed by your Convention. As it is (the convention meet¬ 
ing to-morrow and the mail to-day closing in a few minutes), 
I can only say that I most heartily sympathize with the 
objects of the convention, and sincerely hope that its delibera¬ 
tions will tend to practical results. 

The State of Minnesota has a large interest in the proposed 
improvement, which would open water communication from 
the Mississippi, near our southern border, to Lake Michigan at 
Green Bay. By way of indicating the 'present need of this 
cheap water channel of transportation for the bulky grain pro¬ 
ducts of Minnesota, I would state that the wheat crop alone- 
of the State this year, is in round numbers about twenty million 
bushels. The area of land that produced these twenty million 
of bushels is something less than one million acres. When it 
is borne in mind that the whole area of Minnesota is about 
fifty-three million acres, it is seen that the product of the 
present year is but a feeble beginning of the productive 
capacity of the State. 

Every new channel of transportation between the Missis¬ 
sippi and the Great Lakes will be of incalculable benefit to 
Minnesota. 

4 


50 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS 


Desiring you to present to the convention my sincere re¬ 
grets that I am unable to attend, 

I am very truly yours, 

WM. R MARSHALL, 

Governor of Minnesota. 


LETTER FROM THE GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS. 

State of Illinois, 

Executive Department, 

Springfield, Nov. 5, 1868. 

His Excellency , Lucius Fairchild, Madison , Wis.: 

Dear Governor —I promptly offer you an apology for not 
answering your letter of the 2d of October, covering a call for 
a Convention to be held at Prairie du Chien, on the 10th iust. 
I have been constantly away from the Capital, since August. 
Your letter, although received by my Private Secretary, could 
not be laid before me until my return, on Tuesday last, but 
owing to the business and excitement incident to the election, 
I did not have it called to my attention until to-day. I would 
of course cheerfully have united with you in the call for this 
Convention. ****** 

An appropriation could not be made for a better or more de¬ 
serving object in a National and commercial point of view. 

I hope you will excuse any apparent indifference on my part 
to your communication. Had I received the same, it would have 
been promptly answered. * * * * 

Very truly yours, 

R. J. OGLESBY. 


LETTER FROM HON. ROSCOE CONKLIN. 

Utica, N. Y., Oct. 29, 1868, 

My Dear Sir: —Your note touching the proposed Conven¬ 
tion at Prairie du Chien, to advance the work of connecting 




IMPROVEMENT CONVENTION. 


51 


the Lakes and the Mississippi, comes to me in the midst of the 
canvass, and at this moment I cannot write you as fully as I 
would in reply. 

Professional engagements, fixed for the same time, may de¬ 
prive me of the liberty to be present—however this may be, 
rest assured of the deep and active interest I feel in any wise 
and feasible plan for establishing a connection between these 
great carrying places. 

The West needs, and the whole country needs a new and 
vigorous development and creation of channels of communi¬ 
cation with the Valley of the Mississippi from both sides of 
the continent. Few national needs are more pressing, few 
projects will be more profitable,and wherever lean advance a 
practicable idea or plan, looking in this direction, I shall not 
be unready to do so. 

In haste, your ob’t serv’t, 

"ROSCOE CONKLIN. 

Lewis H. Thomas, Esq., 


LETTER FROM HON. JOHN V. L. PRUYN. 

Albany, Nov. 4, 1868. 

Lewis H. Thomas, Esq., 

Cor. Secy., Sc., Dubuque , Iowa. 

Dear Sir : Your circular (dated Oct. 3d) and letter, were 
received a few days ago. I should be gratified to attend the 
proposed Convention, to consider the Wisconsin and Fox 
Rivers Improvement question, but an engagement here at the 
same time, which I cannot control, will prevent me from 
doing so. 

The work is one of great importance and interest, and I 
hope it may be aided in everp proper way, and be brought to a 
successful result at an early day. 

Yours, with great regard, 

JOHN V. L. PRUYN. 



52 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS 


EXTRACTS FROM LETTER OF EDWIN F. JOHNSON, 

CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD CO., RESIDING 
AT MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT. 

To the Chairman of the Convention , assembled at Prairie du Chien: 

Dear Sir — I enclose with this a copy of a pamphlet “ on the 
navigation of the Lakes,” &c., which contains matter that may 
be of interest in connection with the proceedings of your Con¬ 
vention. * * * . * * * * 

A navigable connection of the waters of the Mississippi with 
those of Lake Michigan by the route of the Wisconsin and 
Fox Rivers, has been long looked upon as certain to be accom- 
plished, because nature has done so much in preparing the way 
for such a connection. ***** 
Canals in the latitude of the Lakes are available for trans¬ 
portation only about two.thirds of the year, and they are not 
well adapted to the conveyance of passengers, because of the 
slow movement upon them, but during the season when they 
are navigable they afford a cheap means of transit for produce 
and such freight as does not demand a rapid movement. 
There are but few localities where their construction, at the 
present time, would be justified. The route from Green Bay 
to Prairie du Chien is one of these. 

Upon this route much has already been done. In opening 
it, the aim should be to construct such a channel as will enable 
the river craft, the boats and barges of the Mississippi and its 
branches to reach Green Bay, making there but one tranship¬ 
ment to and from the larger craft which navigate the Lakes. 

It is remarkable, that the waters which drain the Eastern 
slope of North America, and which find their way into the 
Gulfs of Mexico and St. Lawrence and Hudson’s Bay, are not 
separated at their sources by any elevated chain of mountains, 
but all proceed from the same elevated table or plane, the sur¬ 
face of which is only sufficiently varied or diversified to afford 
a good drainage. It is also remarkable, that for many hundred 
miles, from the Eastern extremity of Lake Erie to the Western 


IMPROVEMENT CONVENTION. 


53 


extremity of Lake Superior, the waters of the Mississippi have 
their rise very near the Lakes. Notwithstanding however, 
this near approach of the waters of the two systems and com¬ 
parative lowness of the divides that separate them, there are 
but two points west of Lake Michigan where a navigable com¬ 
munication can properly be effected between them. These are 
the points named above. West of Lake Superior there are 
also two points where a connection can, without great difficul¬ 
ty, be effected. These points are far above and out of reach 
of the region which will be benefited by the proposed Wis¬ 
consin improvement, and, although not yet demanded by the 
necessities of the Country, may in time receive atttention. 

* * * * * **# 
Wishing your Convention success in their labors, 

I am very truly yours, &&, 

EDWIN F. JOHNSON, 

Civil Engineer. 

Chicago, Nov. 7, 1868. 


LETTER FROM THE DUBUQUE DELEGATION. 

Hon. L. Fairchild, Governor of Wisconsin: 

Dear Sir :—With this you will receive a communication 
in the form of a memorial to Congress, which we had intend¬ 
ed to present to the late Wisconsin and Fox River Canal Con¬ 
vention, held at Prairie du Chien on the 10th inst. We think 
it expresses the unanimous views of the people of the Upper 
Mississippi Valley, and will meet the approbation of the whole 
country. We do not claim any originality in the sentiments 
and views therein taken, but we do most emphatically hold 
that it expresses the wants and demands of this whole region 
of country. In no other way, than by the speedy comple¬ 
tion of that great national work, can those necessities and de¬ 
mands be met. We trust you will insert this document in the 
printed pamphlet of the proceedings of the Convention, as ex¬ 
pressive of the views of the people of the Northwest. It may, 



54 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS 


in some particulars, be a repetition of what has already been 
more appropriately said by others, but still we would request 
tha^it may find a place in the proposed pamphlet; also that 
you would insert the accompanying resolutions, which we had 
also intended to present for the consideration of the Conven¬ 
tion. 


Yours truly, 

LEWIS A. THOMAS, 
WM. WESTPHAL, 

M. H MOORE, 

B. B. RICHARDS, 
GEO. W. JONES, 
GEO. W. SCOTT, 


T. L. BOARDMAN, 

WM. ANDREW, 

H. ROUSE, 

H. S. HETHERINGTON, 
J. K. GRAVES, 

R. J. GIBBS, 


T. M. MONROE. 

Dubuque, Iowa, November 16, 1868. 


RESOLUTIONS OF THE DUBUQUE DELEGATION. 

SUBMITTED AFTER ADJOURNMENT. 

Whereas, The exposed and defenceless condition, not only 
of our lake, but also of our entire northern frontier, extending 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans for more than four thou¬ 
sand miles, co-terminously with those of a foreign and rival 
power; a necessity for the removal of the natural barriers to 
the free and uninterrupted navigation between the lakes and 
the great rivers of the continent; the rapidly increasing inland 
commerce and navigation of these lakes and rivers, (amount¬ 
ing, at the present time, to nearly two-thirds of the entire ton¬ 
nage of the nation,) and the unparalleled development of the 
agricultural, mineral, commercial and other resources of the 
States and Territories lying along the Mississippi and its great 
tributaries, most imperatively demand that the general govern¬ 
ment should take immediate steps to open up, at the earliest 
possible period, a water communication from the Atlantic sea¬ 
board (by the way of the great lakes,) to the Missississippi 
river, upon the nearest , "cheapest , most expeditious , and most direct 
and practicable route ; and, 



IMPROVEMENT CONVENTION. 


55 


Whereas, For all that portion of the Mississippi Talley 
lying north of the south boundary of Iowa, the route by the 
way of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers to Lake Michigan at the 
head of Green Bay is the only one of any practicable value or 
importance whatever to that whole region of country; therefore, 

Resolved , That while we would not object to the construc¬ 
tion of any, and indeed all, of the great water routes to the At¬ 
lantic seaboard, the merits and practicability of which are now 
being canvassed before the American people, our duty to the 
great bread-producing States of the northwest most imperative¬ 
ly demand that we persistently urge upon Congress the 
necessity of an appropriation for the enlargement and per^ 
manent improvement of the present navigable route by way 
of those rivers to Lake Michigan, as being pre-eminently prac¬ 
ticable, necessary for military and naval defence and also to af- 
foKl facilities for the safe, cheap and rapid transportation, by 
the shortest and most direct route, of the products of the north 
west to an Atlantic and European market. 

Resolved , That while we would approve and urge the most 
rigid economy in the administration of public affairs, both as 
a matter of wisdom in the State and justice to the industrial 
interests of the country, we would nevertheless recommend 
for this measure a liberal appropriation from the public treas¬ 
ury, believing that a judicious liberality in this direction is 
true economy ; that the food producers of the nation are the 
most efficient and successful promoters of the nation’s pros¬ 
perity, strength, and material development; that encourage¬ 
ment and material assistance to them, increase in the area of 
cultivation; invitation to foreign immigration ; facilities and en¬ 
couragement for the settlement of the public domain lying 
remote from the great sources of trade and travel; fostering 
all great national measures and enterprise, tending to stimu¬ 
late a healthy and vigorous competition in trade and com¬ 
merce, and lifting from the general industries of the country 
the burthens and exactions which unrestricted and self-regu¬ 
lated monopoly would fasten upon them, are the surest means 


56 


WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS 


to develop the national resources, strengthen the national 
power and secure the national success. 

Resolved, That “ cheap transportation ” is an imperative ne¬ 
cessity for the entire Northwest, and more especially for the 
Upper Mississippi Yalley, without which its continued devel¬ 
opment (and consequent prosperity) must, at no distant period, 
reach a limit beyond which it cannot pass. This object can 
only be attained by a “ water route ” to the Lakes. 

* * * * * * * * * * 
Resolved , That any assistance granted to this enterprise by 
the General Government, in order to insure its faithful and 
economical application to the purposes intended, should be 
upon certain definite and exaqt terms and conditions, similar 
to those contained in the grant to the Pacific Railroad. 
********** 
f Resotved, That we would- solicit from the public press and 
commercial men through the country a favorable response to 
this proposition. 


Several important communications were received after the 
adjournment. Under the call the Convention was restricted 
in its labors to measures tending to the Improvement of the 
Wisconsin and Fox rivers. Inasmuch as the Convention had 
no opportunity to waive this restriction, it has been deemed 
improper to publish any communications denying or advoca¬ 
ting the importance of other water routes. 

To extract from these well considered communications the 
portions not objectionable under the call, would, it is feared, 
so mutilate them as to make them misrepresent the opinions 
of those putting them forth. It is felt that no extracts from 
the very able paper accompanying the foregoing resolutions 
could present the exhaustive argument made by the Dubuque 
delegation. 

Prepared for publication under the direction of 

LUCIUS FAIRCHILD, 

Governor of Wisconsin. 




WATER COMMUNICATION 


BETWEEN 

I THE MISSISSIPPI AND THE LAKES. 


MEMORIAL 

TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, ON THE IMPROVE¬ 
MENT OF THE NAVIGATION OF THE 

WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS, 

SUBMITTED BY 

THE CANAL CONVENTION HELD AT PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, IN THE 
STATE OF WISCONSIN, NOVEMBER 10, 1868, 

AND 

THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONVENTION. 


PREPARED FOR PUBLICATION UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 

LUCIUS FAIRCHILD, 

GOVERNOR OP THE STATE OF WISCONSIN. 


MADISON, WIS. : 

ATWOOD & RUBLEE, BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS, JOURNAL BLOCK. 

1869. . 
























V 



LBFe 10 











